Do onesies multiply in the wash? Maybe it’s just us, but it feels like we turn our backs for one second and all of a sudden Clara has more outfits than she can ever hope to wear before she outgrows them thanks to family members who love to pass along their hand-me-downs and generous gifts from friends. And you know we love a deal (free baby clothes = score) but at some point the scales tip from totally helpful to overwhelmingly chaotic, so we work hard to keep the clothing clutter to a minimum. It all starts with keeping a sharp eye on what’s coming in. But who knew we would actually have to deflect a fair amount of hand-me-downs in the interest of keeping things baby-friendly? Why? So there’s room for the baby. You think we’re kidding. Here’s a pile of hand-me-downs that we recently received from my BFF:

Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff there. And not one outfit would fit into the closet or the drawers since they were already packed to the brim. So it was out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new time. Which meant returning some of the new hand-me-down stuff too if we knew off the bat that we didn’t need it. First we whittled down the mountain of clothing by pulling out anything that we knew was the wrong season (for example, anything skimpy that was sized 6-9 months was out since it’ll be winter when Clara’s that age). Then in an act of true restraint, we decided to implement a cap. Ten pairs of pants, ten short sleeved onesies, ten long sleeved onesies, ten shirts, ten sweaters/jackets, ten hats, ten bibs, ten dresses and ten sleepers was all that we’d allow in Clara’s room at any time. That’s still a ton of clothing, but when we selected our favorite ten items in each category from the pile it was only about 20% of it. Sweet.

But as we mentioned, there wasn’t any room for those items in the nursery, so our much smaller pile of keeper clothes still had nowhere to go. Which meant it was time to grab every last dress, onesie, sleeper, swaddle blanket, hat, and headband that no longer fit from her closet/dresser and toss them onto the floor along with the surplus hand-me-down clothing (we labeled the tags of all hand-me-down items with the rightful owner’s initials beforehand to keep things straight). Here’s the giant pile of “outgoing things” that we were left with. We love that it was even bigger than the incoming pile that we started with (since many of the items stayed on the floor).

Then we went through Mount Clothing and pulled out the hand-me-downs (which we returned to the sweet people who sent them our way) and boxed up the rest of the Permanent Petersik items in labeled plastic bins in our basement. I even remembered to box up my maternity clothes to free up a bit of closet space in my room while I was at it.

Then we grabbed a cute pink gift bag and decided that would be the this-doesn’t-fit-anymore drop zone in the closet from that day forth. Now whenever we come across something we no longer need or an item that doesn’t fit we just drop it in the bag and whenever the bag is full we send things back to their rightful homes or store them in the basement.

And in case you’re wondering about our system, we have dresses on that bottom hanging bar and outfits/jackets/button down sweaters on the top bar (organized in general size order from smallest on the left to largest on the right). Then we have our dresser drawers, which are organized with onesies in one drawer, pants and leggings and socks in another drawer, tops and sweaters in another drawer, sleepers in another drawer, and cloth diapers and other baby products like wipes, lotion, and shampoo in the other two drawers.

So that’s the state of Clara’s clothes. We’d love to hear how you guys stay on top of outfit overload and do your best to be organized when it comes to all those adorable tiny pants.

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I wish I had that problem! I am the first among friends and my side of the family to have children, so I am the one passing things down, rather than the one receiving. My husband is quite a bit older than I am as are his siblings, so most of their children are old enough that nobody has items on hand to pass along to my 3 & 1 year old babies. Also, since we had a daughter followed by a son, there is very little that I can pass down that she previously used. We pretty much wind up buying new with each season, although we have certainly learned restraint when shopping as so much of what we received for our daughter wound up being used only a handful of times per outfit. Our breakdown is pretty similar – around 10 pairs of pajamas, a handful of comfy outfits like leggings and tunics for our daughter or sweats & long sleeve tees for our son and just a couple pairs of jeans & nicer shirts for each of them. Since we don’t plan on having more children, I have been cleaning the clothes out as we go along & passing them on.

RC

I would think that people giving the hand-me-downs are giving them away because they don’t need them anymore. Don’t they mind taking stuff back? Doesn’t donating the items to a thrift shop make more sense for keeping both the giver and receivers clothes overload to a minimum.

http://www.younghouselove.com John & Sherry Petersik

Hey RC,

All the people who give us hand-me-downs are planning to have more children (some are even currently prego!) so they asked for them back. But of course we would donate them if they didn’t want them back!

xo,
s

jody

“More pairs of paints”! It’s easy to tell that you’re still always in DIY mode, even when covering other topics!

http://www.younghouselove.com John & Sherry Petersik

Hey Jody,

Hysterical! Thanks for catching that! Off to fix it…

xo,
s

Kayt

Like Amie, my son doesn’t get hand-me-downs for clothes. One SIL has two girls, and the other one gave away most of her four year old’s clothes to a co-worker who never brought them back. At work, I have the oldest of the babies. (Five people had boys after I had mine, and everyone else’s kids are teens or girls).

My son is almost two, and we have a system that involves making the most of his closet. Our house was built in 1982, so we have a standard, two sliding door sized closet for him. We bought a set of dressers from Goodwill (three dressers and a nightstand for $40!). We keep the smaller dresser out in his room and keep current clothes in it. Then, the highboy is in his closet, with future sized clothes in there. I keep a small notebook on top of the dresser in the closet with a checklist of what I have in each size, and each drawer has a different size stored in it. Right now, he’s wearing 18mo and 2T, depending on the brand. 2T and 24mo share the top drawer. Next drawer is 3T, then 4T and 5T. The bigger the size I buy, I try to stick to all season clothes, like tshirts and jeans, and only buy when they’re 50% off at Goodwill, or 75% off at Target, my main stomping grounds.

Melissa

Wow, I wish I had generous friends like that. I for sure wouldn’t have complained! I have two daughters born around the same time of year so we are reusing all of my 2 1/2 yr old’s clothes now w/ my 9 month old. I have zippered bags (like the ones that quilts and bedspreads come in) and every few months it’s out with the old in with the new–pack up my older daughter’s things and take out whatever size my younger one is in. After my first daughter was born I saved everything. This time around, while I know I want one more child at least, I am still giving away most of the clothes since I doubt I’ll get another girl and if I do, she most likely won’t be born in the fall or winter. So I have a bin for each of my girls of special dresses and blankets that are theirs only. And I have another tub that’s for outfits each of them wore that I love and want to save forever! Anything else I give away. Getting ready to do a big end of summer purge soon.

http://outoftheboondocks.blogspot.com Mama Badger

We have a similar system to yours. Nobody wants their hand me downs back from us, though (no more little boys for them!). We divide our “on the way out” pile between stuff nice enough to be extra clothes for daycare, and clothes to be donated. What’s hard for us is that some folks don’t understand how much stuff we get. So when we don’t use their hand me downs, they feel slighted. I’m glad for all that we get, though. It really is a blessing.

Angela

Can I ask why you box up clothes that no longer fit her? Why not consign or donate them?

http://www.younghouselove.com John & Sherry Petersik

Hey Angela,

We’re planning to have a future baby! So we’re saving them for the next babe and will consign or donate them after we’re done having kids!

xo,
s

Michelle

I would surely keep a few things that you don’t think will fit down the road. I’ll explain. My little girl was born in Nov’08. Her sizing is pretty much on par with that of clothing. However, I have found that I have to double up on sizes in spring and fall. She’s 2 months away from 2, and here in NC it’s still pretty warm- too warm for cords and jeans. But the 18 mo sizes are getting snug, good thing I kept some 24 mo warm weather clothes.

Sara M

I thought I was the only one with this “issue”! My sister and I have 3 boys between us (3YO, 2YO and 18MO), so we have bins and bins at each of our houses of clothes that we pass back and forth depending on the season and size of our kids. Add onto that the new clothes from Grandma, and my youngest doesn’t need any more clothes for at least another 6 months! Not that I am complaining, though! I love when I go through the next size/season to bring out clothes I loved my oldest in and now my baby gets to wear them as well.

Kali

I so wish I had that problem. My daughter is 11 months and in 12-18 & 18-24 month old clothing. Its the first grandchild/great grandchild on my side. My parents still have 3 out 7 still at home with the youngest being 9 and oldest 19 so they don’t have any money to help sometimes. Oh did I mention that 6 out of 7 are girls. My husband’s side has 3 boys and 6 girls and out of the childrwn who have kids we have the 2nd granddaughter out of 7 grandsons and 2 girls younger (1 not born yet and a sil who has a 3 month old). I did have a ton of stuff to big but I’m finding that she is on the larger side of a lot of brands. Most stuff I buy is 18-24 because she is tall and chubby. If I get hand me Downs I’m really picky, I don’t like heavily stained clothes or certain brands because they don’t fit her correctly. If I had that problem my life would be one more step to easier.

Jennifer

It’s funny, I use a gift bag to put DS’s too small clothes in, too.

Musicmom

I had an AMAZING babysitter who unfortunately packed up and moved to Vegas! But in her wake she left me with one of the best organizing ideas for kids clothes ever. When she ran out of things to do while the kids were napping, she would organize their drawers. I KNOW! I told you she was amazing. Anyway, she rolled everything. That way, you had nice neat rows and could see everything at a glance, without pawing through. I still use that system (My girls are 5 and 7). They can roll and put away their own laundry, and never have to empty out the drawer to find what they are looking for! It works great for itty bitty onesies and leggings and big girl clothes, too.

http://Www.whatkatiewdid.bloodspot.com Fiona

We have been fortunate to receive a lot of hand me downs, though I did go a little nuts buying stuff before Kate was born. I’m just about to pass some on to friends having a baby girl in a couple of weeks. I didn’t have a lot in the next size I need so I headed to a local charity store. For just $50 I got about 20 onsies that are either brand new still with tags on or very gently worn.

Scott Adler

Fortunately we too are awash in hand-me-downs (I think we bought Theo his first new pair of shoes two weeks ago). In fact, a quarter of my admittedly tiny garage has bins in waiting.

But all these threads don’t solve a key problem: disappearing socks.

Onesies may multiply but socks just drift away…

ashley0223

it sounds like you’ve really got it figured out. my daughter is 6 months old, the first granddaughter on both sides and oh my the mountains of clothes! we are stuck in a one bedroom apartment for a little while, we have one closet, between her dad and i we have 2 dressers, 2 night stands, 2 sets of plastic drawers in the closet, toys and clothes for his 2 boys (ages 2 and 3) that spend every other weekend here with us, and no room for our own clothes!! the best advice i can give is lots of boxes, shelves, and labels, i also like using baskets on shelves like makeshift drawers to seperate each child’s clothes from the other. we certainly have and over abundance of clutter in spots but at least it’s organized.. somewhat. lol. luckily we have plenty of space at the top of our closet which is currently occupied by all of mommy and daddy’s foldable clothes. your ideas are great, i think i’ll be buying some clear boxes and adding a second lower rod in the closet.

Alicia

I have the key to not losing socks in the washer! We bought a lingerie bag at the Dollar store before my son was born. We toss the dirty ones in and when we are ready to wash, we put the whole bag in with the clothes. The socks all stay together and don’t get “lost” because they are kept in the bag the entire time. I can’t say how to keep from losing them when you are out and about…but this little mesh bag was a life saver and it was only a dollar!

Carmen

Love the C- Clara onesie. Did you guys make it? Would love to make one myself.

http://www.younghouselove.com John & Sherry Petersik

Hey Carmen,

It was actually a gift (and the tag only has washing instructions so we don’t have more info for you). Maybe try etsy?

xo,
s

http://mmgmania.blogspot.com Carrie

We have a similar system here and I’m glad o organized all the clothes with my first daughter because I just had a second little girl last month. It’s so much easier to locate the size I need because I took an extra minute to label the tubs. My suggestion is to keep a couple of things that aren’t the right size. My oldest daughter wore 18 month shorts and 24 month tops this summer and she’ll be 3 in December. I thought of this for your Clara because I remember reading that she’s still wearing the same white onesie for her weekly pics!

http://www.younghouselove.com John & Sherry Petersik

Hey Carrie,

She’s actually in mostly 6 month clothes already (at just 4 months old) so our long 15lb baby is shaping up to be ahead on the growth chart (80th percentile- who knew I’d have a big tall baby?!).

xo,
s

http://www.tapperrichards.com Jennifer

I absolutely love all of the fantastic pictures on your website and with all of your posts. I am a professional organizer and interior designer in the Boston, MA area, owner of an incredibly small 2-bedroom condo and the Mom of an amazing 9-month old, Isaac. Your closet solution here is really great! And, I can say it totally works. I have used the gift bag solution for clothes that Isaac has outgrown. I also have a gift bag for clothes that came out of the washer/dryer with stains still on them, so I know which clothes need extra tlc before the next load of laundry (which is usualy only a couple of days away). With so many cute gift bags from the shower, the hardest part was deciding which ones to use for myself and which ones to use as future gift packaging for others!

http://www.seaminglysarah.blogspot.com SeaminglySarah

Thankfully I don’t have to worry about returning hand me downs! Everyone I received 2nd hand clothing from did so because they were DONE with having kids. I do have to think about saving outfits my sister in law and mother in law bought in case my sister in law has a baby some day. But I could also easily see her wanting all new things after I went through the effort to pull those outfits aside and save them. I just try to stay one step ahead just in case!

Right now I keep a storage bin of the next size up in my daughter’s closet and one storage bin of clothes that are one size too small. As clothes become too small they go in that bin. When the bin is full it is labeled with the sizes in there and put in the basement. I periodically go through the bin with bigger clothing and incorporate new pieces as needed. We don’t have too much of a surplus now to have to weed through hand me downs. In fact I could use a bag full of 3Ts to get ready for the next season!

Cristina

With our first child we received a bunch of hand me down clothes and stuff,literally like 6 almost spilling garbage hefty bags, the huge ones. I was so grateful! So I kept what wasn’t stained, ripped or a little out of my taste. Put everything on hangers and the problem was solved. As he grew out of the clothes, I started donating them,as we decided not to have any more kids and we didn’t have friends that were gonna have kids soon. Our son is now 2 years old,and a few months ago we decided to have another child after we saw the daughters of a friend and how well they got along and how nice it was for your child to have someone to play with at all times. So here I am,4 1/2 months pregnant,probably having a girl,with no friends that had girls,or even neutral colors clothes to send it to us. So I’m afraid we’re just gonna have to buy a few things. Thank God I do not have to get maternity clothes,I’m struggling to gain weight but not happening. I got very organized and my system is very similar to yours.:)

http://babycenter lisa

I am a spring and fall person myself as I go through my 4 year olds clothes and pack them up in plastic tubs,label the bins and store them away and I am running out of space :)hope our next baby is a boy or will be having a HUGE garage sale as I have got amazing sales on clothes as he grows out of then sooo fast and people gave there hamie downs and they don’t want them back organizing helps out a lot just need to do it to the rest of the house toys toys toys

Katrina

I, too, receive hand-me-downs from several family members/friends who are either expecting again or have recently had another baby. I color-code the hangers since not everyone wants initials written inside of the clothes. One friend has pink hangers, another blue, my purchases go on white hangers and the last set of hand-me-downs go on white hangers with blue painters tape wrapped around the neck. This way I am able to hang all of the clothes by size and still distinguish by owner.

The best thing I bought for organization, by far, were Peek-A-Boo Closet Dividers from Babies ‘R Us. My baby girl was in 18 month clothes by 6 months of age so these were a godsend. Everything was hanging and organized when I needed it. I have to sort through, box up, and return clothes on a regular basis but she has finally slowed down so I don’t have to rotate in new clothes right now.

mic

Got the same problem.
For pity sake, please DONT give them back to those who gave them to you!
Pay forward.
Give them to someone who’s got a kid the right age,
take them to a local preschool and let those folks dig thru them.
Have a garage sale.
Use FreeCycle.

When we gave it to you, its because we cant use it anymore either.
Somewhere, there’s a family who’ll be delighted to get the stuff.

mic-2

Whoops- I see you’ve been asked to return them. Well more power to you then, for being able to keep them straight!

Love the curtain on the closet. We used a curtain too. Came in handy when a too-young saw part of Monsters Incorporated.
You see, a monster needs a closet door in order to get into a bedroom. No door, no monster.

http://www.younghouselove.com John & Sherry Petersik

Hey Mic-2,

Haha, love it! We hope Clara appreciates that feature someday too!

xo,
s

Naomi

Huh, my daughter 18 months has so many clothes & I am forever sorting it all out. I keep everything inside the wardrobe in those hanging storage shelves. This seems to work for us. I used the same gift bag idea for outgrown clothes but now have graduated to a zipper bag. One for outgoing clothes and one for stuff that doesn’t fit yet. I only got hand me downs from one cousin but there were heaps. She didn’t need them anymore so I kept all the good, in season clothes for my bubba and donated everything else. I did however fall into the trap of going nuts buying clothes myself and we got mountains of them for our shower as well. I have learned a lesson and kept only my very favorite practical pieces in various sizes for any future baby and now sell or donate all the others. I won’t need all those clothes even if I have triplets next time! Less is more. Cliche but true!

Melissa

Thanks so much for this post! My son is 16 months old, but you guys are way ahead of me on knowing how to handle all those clothes! I do need one more tip: what did you use to label the hand-me-down clothes? So many of our baby clothes don’t have actual tags so I can’t figure out how to discreetly label the ones I’m letting friends borrow!!!

http://www.younghouselove.com John & Sherry Petersik

Hey Melissa,

I have a sharpie dot system (a red dot on the label means it’s from my friend Cat, a blue one is from John’s sis, etc). As long as it’s permanent marker it works great!

xo,
s

Amanda

My son is 4 months old almost 5 months old and he is already in 9 month old cloths, so in other words he grows very very fast. I feel like I am always cleaning out his dresser. When I notice that a few things are fitting snug I will go through his dresser, keep a few of my favorites (my husband and I are not planning on having more children but you never know what may happen and since money is already tight, I think saving some things is a great thing) and then I take the other things to a consignment shop that trades. So I will trade my things for the sizes that he needs. It works great, I very rarely have to spend money on new clothes. Plus I find some really nice things!

Rae

You are so smart! I just stumbled across your blog when I repinned something from Pinterest. So many great ideas! I actually cannot find the particular web page/project that I pinned (probably not pinned correctly). It was the canvas nursery wall art that had the outlines of 3 different animals in 3 different shades of blue. Think you can direct me to it?

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